Sophos today announced network security defense innovations designed to help organizations keep up with performance and security demands in the age of AI.
The new features focus on Sophos Firewall v23, along with new XGS hardware, a standalone NDR (Network Detection and Response) solution from Sophos and improvements across the broad range of networking products. Together, they further extend Sophos Fusion – the AI-native cybersecurity defense system – into the network environment, providing organizations with greater visibility and responsiveness when threats arise.
Protecting organizations in the age of AI
AI is changing both the way organizations use their networks and the way cybercriminals attack them. Users, applications, devices, cloud services, and AI systems are generating more traffic and machine-to-machine communication, while attackers can use AI to accelerate recognition, exploitation, and lateral movement. A recent Sophos report also highlights the role the network can play in defense and early threat detection: in 61% of ransomware attack cases, the firewall generated an alert before data was encrypted.
Sophos is building network security for the AI era around two priorities: keeping up with increasing performance demands and connecting defenses to work together. Sophos Fusion integrates security across the entire network, allowing different defenses to share information and coordinate their response to threats.
“AI is raising the bar for the network. Organizations must support greater volumes of encrypted traffic, applications and automated activities while defending against attacks that can move faster and exploit vulnerabilities at greater scale,” said Daniel Cole, Senior Vice President of Product Management at Sophos. “Network security can no longer work in isolation. By bringing network visibility, context and policy enforcement to Sophos Fusion, we help customers make the network an active part of their cyber defense strategy.”
Network level visibility
Sophos Firewall v23 forms the backbone of this new phase of defense, with more than 30 enhancements covering AI visibility and control, automation, management, Secure by Design, identity, scalability and high availability. Integration with Sophos AI Defense provides network-level visibility, reporting and policy enforcement for the use of AI services, while AI-assisted rules management and a modern REST API help administrators and partners reduce operational effort and automate at scale.
Other innovations include:
Four new XGS series devices expand the range with greater protection performance, faster connectivity and more value for money options. The new models are the XGS 2380, the XGS 3380, the XGS 4580 and the XGS 5580.
A new standalone offering from Sophos NDR that combines behavioral detection with deep packet inspection and IDS/IPS capabilities. Its Active Inline mode allows identified malicious packets to be discarded before they reach their destination, taking NDR beyond visibility to provide a direct response.
Sophos Fusion as a cyber defense system
Xstream Plus, a new premium licensing option from Sophos Firewall that combines Xstream Protection, Sophos Workspace Protection licenses, Enhanced Plus support, and extended retention of Sophos Firewall reports.
Sophos Fusion sees everything, connects everything, and enables defense systems to respond in a coordinated way
Improvements to Sophos Workspace Protection, including synchronized web policies that allow administrators to define web filtering profiles in Sophos Fusion and apply them to Firewall, Workspace Protection, DNS Protection and Endpoint. A new web category of generative AI provides more granular control over AI services.
Together, these defense innovations reinforce the role of the network within Sophos Fusion. Sophos Firewall, NDR, Workspace Protection, Wireless and Switch provide visibility and control at different points in the environment. By sharing context across Sophos Fusion, these control points can contribute to a clearer understanding of activity and facilitate faster, more coordinated action across the defense system.
